Niko Yamamoto
Niko Yamamoto '''(born 10 February 2010; biological age 10), formerly known as '''Ship, is a Galvanic Mechamorph reruma and a member of the Plumbers' Helpers. Originally a Mechamorph symbiote created by Baz-l, he was adopted by Julie Yamamoto, Ben Tennyson's former girlfriend, in 2010. After sustaining heavy injuries during the Twilight War, Ship's longtime proximity to Julie led him to develop synthetic copies of her DNA in his own system, which eventually led to him developing into her "son," Niko. Biography In 2010, a Galvanic Mechamorph named Baz-l crash-landed on Earth and was put in serious peril. To save himself, he generated a Mechamorph symbiote which he sent to find nearby Plumbers. The symbiote located 15-year-old Ben Tennyson, then on a date with Julie Yamamoto, and mistook him for a Plumber due to his Omnitrix. The symbiote then led Ben to Baz-El, allowing Ben to rescue him. Baz-l then left the symbiote in Ben's care, and Ben chose to name him Ship (due to the symbiote repeating the phrase "ship" to tell Ben about Baz-l's crashed spaceship). Ship then ran off and disappeared for some time. However, he continued to visit Julie, who eventually adopted him as her pet. Ship became a valuable member of Ben's team and assisted him on numerous occasions, including the Atasian invasion of Earth. However, he also became a point of conflict in Ben and Julie's strained relationship. This came to a head at the outbreak of the catastrophic Twilight War. Julie reluctantly allowed Ship to participate in the conflict, but Ship was critically injured during a battle. Julie blamed Ben for this, and withdrew Ship from the war. Shortly thereafter, Ben was killed in the process of sealing the Twilight to save the Milky Way Galaxy. Ship's recovery from his injury was extremely slow, as it had damaged his genetic structure immensely, and had to be developed essentially from scratch. In order to reconstruct his genome, Ship's synthetic Mechamorph DNA underwent an "emulation process" based on environmental influences. Essentially, this meant that his DNA began to mimic that of individuals he had spent a great deal of time in the proximity of. Soon, Ship began to assume a humanlike form, prompting Julie to bring him to Gwen, who in turn contacted Azmuth. Azmuth diagnosed that Ship was replicating the DNA of two individuals - Julie and Ben. Essentially, he was a genetic clone of them both, their biological "son." With time, Ship eventually became a fully developed human possessing Galvanic Mechamorph reruma genetics. Julie chose to name him Niko Yamamoto and adopt him as her and Ben's son, though she did not tell him of his true origins. Niko enjoyed a mostly happy life being homeschooled by his mother and developing his powers. He also became close friends with his honorary "cousin," Max Glenn. Niko remained unaware of his origins until he turned ten, when his powers suddenly spiraled out of control. Max, Gwen, Julie, and Betty Augen were able to help restore Niko to normal, and he was then informed of his origins. In order to honor his father Ben Tennyson, Niko chose to join the Plumbers' Helpers under Max's leadership. Appearance Niko is a young boy with beige skin, mid-length black hair, and green eyes. He is often seen wearing an elaborate, neo-retro train engineer outfit with goggles, a gray cap, green kerchief, white shirt, black overalls, and black boots. When Niko activates his Galvanic Mechamorph powers, his skin turns jet-black, and green, electronic lines appear on his face, arms, and clothing. His eyes, eyelashes, and mouth also turn bright green. In this form, Niko can generate a variety of different mechanical builds (including metallic fists, a cannon, a jetpack, and a hoverbike), with his clothes altering or dissolving to accommodate. Personality Niko is fun-loving, inventive, and somewhat hyperactive, and is always looking for ways to entertain himself. He tends to be very outgoing, adventurous, and determined, though he can be somewhat absent-minded at times as well, often wandering off on his own elaborate misadventures that result from minor distractions. He loves expanding upon and exploring his superhuman abilities, and enjoys showing off his often incredible new powers to his friends and family. He cares a lot about the Plumbers' Helpers and wants to prove he can be a real hero and fight by their side. Niko is an avid video gamer, and like Max and Ben Tennyson, he loves the Sumo Slammers series. Relationships Julie Yamamoto As Ship, Niko was very close to Julie and cared for and protected her at all costs, something like a loyal pet. When he developed into a human form, Julie came to treat Niko has her own son. Niko is very close to Julie and loves her dearly, but sometimes feels suffocated by her over-protective and sometimes overbearing personality. He often wants to spend more time at Plumber HQ with the Helpers to avoid feeling controlled by Julie back at home. In spite of this, Niko cares a lot for his mother and takes her advice whenever he can, and is willing to put himself in harm's way to protect her. Max Glenn Niko was one of the first rerumas Max ever met, and the two have known each other since they were both relatively little. Niko looks up to Max as something of an older brother figure as a result, and often seeks his approval or makes significant efforts to impress him and prove that he can be a hero. The two get along well and have a number of shared interests, enjoying the same video games and TV shows, and even holding similar opinions about their favorite franchises (such as their shared belief that classic Sumo Slammers ''was better than its modern incarnations). They often play together, and Max treats Niko like a little brother, which is why he is sometimes reluctant to send him into combat situations. Ben Tennyson Though Niko never knew Ben in his memory, as Ship, he was very close to Ben, and often participated in missions with him. Ship was often a subject of contention in the complicated relationship between Ben and Julie. In spite of their disagreements with one another, Julie cared for Ben and regarded him as being just as important a parental figure to Ship as she was. After Ship became Niko, Julie continued to tell him that his father was a Plumber who died during the Twilight War. Rather than being a lie or cover-story, Julie was simply referring to Ben, as Ben is Niko's biological father. After Niko learned of his true origins, he chose to join the Plumbers' Helpers in order to honor his father's memory. For-Fun Sheet Trivia * Niko's name comes from Nikola Tesla, a famous Serbian-American engineer and inventor. * Niko is one of the oldest original characters in ''Rerumas ''and has undergone many changes. His personality and origin story have remained mostly the same. Niko was originally named Yuichi, and was later renamed to Pierre, and then again to Louis before finally becoming Niko. * Niko's powers are based on those of Rex Salazar from ''Generator Rex, another series created by the Ben 10 ''creators Man of Action. His builds are identical to those of Rex when enhanced by Upgrade during ''Ben 10-Generator Rex: Heroes United. Gallery Niko LN - Color.png Niko 3.png Niko 2.png Niko.png Nikoart2.png Nikoart.png Rerumas_2_-_Copy_(2).png early niko.png|Early concept art of Niko Category:Characters Category:Plumbers' Helpers Category:Tennyson family Category:Rerumas Category:Main Characters